The World Design Capitals meet in Valencia

The “World Design Cities Meeting”, held in the Crystal Room of Valencia City Hall, was a forum for political representatives with the authority to take decisions regarding urban design, including the mayors of World Design Capital designated cities.

The delegates were welcomed by the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, as representative of the city that holds the title this year. During the event, the leading official shared experiences with institutional delegations from Turin (Italy), Seoul (South Korea), Helsinki (Finland), Cape Town (South Africa), Taipei (Taiwan), Mexico City (Mexico), Lille (France), San Diego (United States) and Tijuana (Mexico).

The mayor of Valencia emphasized this “space where we can exchange opinions, cooperate and share the public policies that we are developing to improve people’s lives and in which design is an essential ally”. The measures introduced in Valencia include the creation of the first Design Council; the development, together with World Design Capital Valencia 2022 and the Association of Designers of the Valencian Community (ADCV), of the first Guide to design management and procurement; the incorporation of the Design Foundation of the Valencian Community and the installation of Agora Valencia in the Plaza de L’Ajuntament.

The director of World Design Capital Valencia 2022, Xavi Calvo, stated that the meeting between the cities “illustrates many examples that give us clues as to how to develop design policies.” Calvo put forward the example of Helsinki which, ten years after being design capital, has set up a design office and is a UNESCO creative city. In this respect, Ribó declared that the fact that Valencia has been designated World Design Capital has represented “a considerable challenge and a great opportunity” and has left a “legacy” which will be integrated in projects such as European Green Capital 2024 and the bid to become European Capital of Innovation.